Sawmill



(No Model.) 2 sheetssheet 1.

G. W. GRAY. SAWMILL.

No. 550,825. Patent d Dee. s". 1895.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented Dec. 3, 1895.

' G. W. GRAY.

SAWMILL.

ih. .%\ll. Y(Uv W 1 Q ll. 1 .Q a. ww lill III .f 1PIIIIVIII'IIIIIIIIIl.. v y x m (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE VASI-IINGTON GRAY, OF LELIATON, GEORGIA.

SAW M L L.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,825, dated December3, 1895.

Application led .Tuly 9, 1895. Serial No. 555,437. (No model.) u

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE WASHINGTON GRAY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Leliaton, in the county of Coffee and State ofGeorgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sawmills;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a sawmill especially adapted for the manufactureof rift, edge-grain, and quarter-sawed lumber.

In the mills hitherto made for such purpose it has been the custom toout the logs into flat or square deals or cants by means of a largecircular or band saw before they could be passed to the rift-machine forcutting them into rift material. In performing this operation the loghas to be turned upon its longitudinal axis a number of times, and onlycertain parts of it will make rift-boards, the balance, which usuallyamounts to about sixty per cent. of the log, being left aslowgradelumber of very little value. These difficulties in the manufacture ofrift and edgegrain lumber have made the market value so far in excess ofthe ordinary kind as to leave but little profit to the manufacturer.

It is the purpose of my improvements to overcome these obstacles byproducing a machine which will not only save the loss above mentioned,but will effect a proportionate saving in time and labor.

To this end my invention consists of a double table provided withoppositely-driven saws, which co-operate with a peculiar kind of feedingmechanism, all of which will be more fully described hereinafter, andpointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a top view of mycomplete device; Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 an endview showing two quarters of Va log in process of simultaneoustreatment.

The framework upon which the double table and the other mechanism aremounted consists of longitudinal outside bars l, cross-bars 2, and acentral longitudinal bar 3, all of which are mounted upon legs 4.

The saws, feed-rollers,shafts,mandrels, and pulleys are all mounted ina' centrally-disposed iron frame 5.

The numeral 6 represents the saws, which are mounted uponoppositely-driven mandrels 7, placed end to end in axial alignment. Aseach saw and its driving mechanism is an exact duplicate of the other, adescription of one will suffice for both.

On the mandrel 7 is fixed the main drivingpulley 8, which is actuated bya belt from any suitable counter-shaft. Power is communicated to spikedfeeding-rollers 9 and l0 through the medium of an` endless belt l1,which passes over pulleys l2 and 13 on the shafts 14 and l5 and a smallpulley I6 on the saW-mandrels 7. This belt is tightened and loosened todrive or stop the feed -rcllers through the medium of a loose pulley 17,located beneath the pulley 16 and centered upon the free end of an arm18, pivoted on the frame 5. This arm is connected to asubstantiallyhorizontal operating-rod 19, which extends out to the end of the tableand is provided with a handle 22 and holding-notches 20, which engage asupporting-hook 2l.

It will be observed that the belt is so applied to the pulleys as todrive the spiked rollers 9 and l0 in the `same direction as denoted byarrows to feed the log to and past the saw.

For convenience in description that portion of the table and itsmechanism which lies on the right-hand side of the central longitudinalbar 3 of the framing will be termed the right-hand half and that portionwhich lies on the opposite side of said bar will be termed the left-handhalf. In each half are located at suitable distances apart a series ofidle rollers 33, over which the quarter travels toward and from the saw,and each saw is provided with a suitable guide 34, secured to a post 35,rising from over the inandrel.

In front of the saw and extending longitudinally alongside the table isa gage 23, the inner edge of which is straight and adapted to be movedin and out to regulate the thickness required of the board to be sawedfrom the quarter. This adjustment of the gage is IOO effected throughthe medium of parallellinks 24, having their ends pivoted tothe gage andto a bracket 25, respectively. In order to dog or hold the quarteragainst the gage to cut a straight board, I provide an overhangingrolling weight 26, centered on the free end of a pivoted arm 27, whichprojects over the path of the quarter and is adapted to roll upon thecurved side thereof during the sawing operation. This weight in thepresent instance merely consists of a round flat-sided wheel having aflat peripheryT and revolving loosely on the free end of the spindle,the opposite end of the spindle being secured to a pivot 28, mounted inan upright 29, rising from the frame 5. This pivot is disposed at apoint considerably above the saw and on the outside of the log, so as toextend downward and hold the quarter iirmly against the straight edge ofthe gage, thereby directing the pressure of the roller toward the gage.The roller is raised up and down and thrown in and out of use by meansof a cable 30, attached to the free end of the spindle and to the end ofan overhead lever 3l, which has its opposite end extending back towithin easy access of the operator, where it is provided with ahand-pull 32.

The preferred construction of my device having been set forth, I willnow proceed to brieiiy describe the manner in which it operates.

An operator is stationed at each end of the table, and two separatequarters of a log are placed upon the right and left halves thereof,with flat sides down and vertical sides against the gages 23. Theweighted rollers are now lowered upon the quarters and the latter pushedupon the feed-rollers 9, which take them up and feed them to the saws.As soon as the end of the quarter has passed to the opposite side of thesaw, the spiked rollers 10 take hold to aid in the feeding and guid ingoperation.A Thus it will be seen that the two quarters will pass eachother and a board be simultaneously sawed off each. Each operator nowgives his quarter three turns on its longitudinal axis, which willtransfer it from one half to the other half of the table and bring theiiat side, which was down, into a vertical position against the gage forthe sawing off of another board upon returning to the starting-point.These -operations are continued until thc entire quarter is convertedinto boards, thereby not only saving an immense amount of Wastage, but acorresponding amount of labor.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a saw-mill, the combination of oppositely driven saws, alongitudinally-double table provided with rollers adapted to receive thelogs, and located in such juxtaposition in relation to each other as toenable the logs to be turned laterally and moved from one half of thetable to the other half, feed rollers disposed before the saws, andmeans for gagin g and holding the logs in true alignment as they are fedto the saws, substantially as described.

2. In a saw-mill, the combination of alongitudinally-double table havingits opposite halves provided with oppositely driven saws, feed rollersdisposed before each of the saws, gages disposed alongside said rollers,and a pivoted weight adapted to bear by gravity upon the rounded side ofthe log during its passage past the saw, substantially as described. l

3. The herein described saw-mill mechanism consisting of alongitudinally-double sawtable provided with oppositely-driven saws, afeed and drawing off roller located before and behind each of said saws,in combination with means for guiding and holding the log during itsendwise movement, whereby two quarters or logs are sawed simultaneouslyWhile moving in opposite directions, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE WASHINGTON GRAY.

lVitnesses:

JOE H. MYERS, J. T. M. WATKINs.

